Package and closure therefor



Aug. 15, 1944. H. F. WATERS 2,356,110

PACKAGE AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed Sept. 1'7, 1940 INVENTOK. Hfi/PRY E m9 TEES Mia y /r wrmfimsy Patented Aug. 15, 1944 UNITED STATES ,PATENTIIY OFFICE v I Application September 17, 1940, Serial No. 357,086

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to packages, and, more particularly, to packages of the type in which aplurality ofv unitary containers is confined, and to a closure for such packages.

In the distribution of various commodities, particularly foodstuffs, including coffee and similar perishable materials, various types of fluid-tight containers were used to an increasing extent in the recent past. Particularly in packaging cofiee in its roasted and comminuted form, it was desirable to hermetically-seal the. package in order to prevent oxidation of the valuable volatile ingredients of the coffee by the atmospheric oxygen and to prevent escape of such essential and volatile ingredients into theair: It was found that the best results are obtained'by confining the ground coffee in a container of duplex or composite character comprising an inner fluid-tight bag or liner and an outer reinforcing carton. To prevent the detrimental action of air on the coffee, it was preferred to withdraw most or all of the air from medium and method of the character described, none of these suggestions and proposals was completely satisfactory and successful on a' practical scale.

It is an object of the present invention to pro-' vide a novel package particularly for the purpose of distributing a plurality of individually sealed units of packaged merchandise in a single and inexpensive merchandising or retailing unit.

It is another object ofthe present invention I to provide a package of novel and improved character comprising a plurality of individually sealed unitary containers and an improved container or packaglngunit for holding these unitary containers within a small and confined space.

It is a further object of the present invention... g

to provide a novel package for the retail distribution of coifee and similar commodities inthe inner bag or liner to cause collapsing thereof 1 eluding a bag squared up from collapsed form and a plurality of individual hermetically-sealed containers within said bag in superpt sed position? Still another object of the inventiori'isthepm;

' vision of abag of the automatically opening botmy' co-pending application Serial No. 329,254, I

filed April 12, 1940.

In order to fully benefit by the advantage of vacuumpackaging as disclosed in the said copending. application, I found it to be desirable to use unit containers of relatively small size sufficient to hold, for example, a quarter-pound of coffee in one unit container would be used within a relatively short time so that all of the coffee In this vmanner, the small amount of remained in its original and fresh condition. 0!

I around a number of unitary containers and sealed or adhesively secured thereto was satisfactory for the purpose. Considerable dimculty was, however, experienced in carrying out this packaging procedure on a practical and commercial scale due to the fact' that the so-called tight-wrapping machines are rather complicated and expensive pieces of machinery which were prohibitive in cost for the average small distributor. Although various attempts were made to provide a solution of the outstanding problem and to provide V the art with a simple and inexpensive packaging to tom type having air vents or discharge-openings incorporated therein to facilitate the introductainers therein. 1

. i It is also within the contemplation of the invention to provide a novel closure device for packages of the described character adapted to maintion of a plurality of snugly fitting unitary con: I

tain the mouth portions of the package or bag Y in a sealed or-closed condition and capable of being opened and closed a plurality of times for the individual withdrawal of'unitary packages therefrom.

The invention also contemplates a packag'eof the described character which is simple in construction, inexpensive to make and to use and which may be readily manufactured at a low'cost on a practical scale without requiring any expensive machinery.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a preferred embed nent of. the present invention into a package containing a plurality of individually sealed unitary containers; Y

Fig. 2 depicts the container shown in Fig. 1 in its partially closed form prior to applying the closure device of the invention thereto:

Fig. 3 shows a similar view of the upper portion of thepackage after it has been closed by the closure means of the invention;

, walls or panels.

. mentary, of the upper portion of a conventional closure device in combination with a bag; and

Fig. 6 depicts the conventional closure device shown in Fig. in its operative position.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawing, reference character in generally denotes a package embodying the principles of the present invention. This package comprises a bag ii of generally rectangular character having main panels I! and I3 and end panels I and It. A bottom panel is defines the lower end of the packaging space provided by the main and end Although bag ll may take a number of different shapes or forms, I prefer to use a bag of the automatically opening bottom type such as an ABC or satchel-type bag due to the facility with which such bags may be manufactured with conventional machinery and may be squared-up from collapsed form prior to filling them with the contents. Within bag II, I provide a'plurality of individual or unit containers II which are of such character and shape as to snugly fit the inner space of the bag in its tions 20 will bring tie strip l8 and the lower portion of mounting strip is into a horizontal position while the upper portion of mounting strip is will extend vertically upwards. (Fig. 2). The collapsed walls of the mouth portions of the bag may be adhesively secured to each other either by means of a suitable adhesive or by means of the application of heat andpressure to a transverse strip thereof, provided there is a thermoplastic coating or layer on the surfaces facing each other. The collapsed and sealed mouth portions may be folded a plurality of completely squared-up condition. I prefer to have these individual containers of a rectangular shape and individually comprising an outer carton and in inner vacuum-packed and sealed bag,

or liner such as are disclosed in my aforesaid co-pending application,

Serial No. 329,254.-

While in the drawing Ihave shown only four of these unitary containers, obviously any desired number of unitary v paci:ages may be employed according to the type of merchandise packaged.

On the upper portion of main panel [2,1 secure a tie strip which esscntially comprises a foldable and form retaining metallic strip II and a mounting strip I! of paper. Mounting strip II I has its lower and ,ylder ortion wrapped around metaistripfl'fand is adhesively secured thereto while its upper tapering end is glued or otherwise secured to the outer face of main panel H. sirobserved in Fig. 2 of the drawing, the tie strip is securedto bag I I in such a region that in the completed, filled and erected position of the bag, the tie strip will assume a substantially horizontal position together with at least a portion of mounting strip l9. It will be likewise observed that the tie strip protrudes beyond the endwalls or panels I4 and I! at each end thereof. The construction of the tie strip will be best understood from Fig. 4 which clearly'indicates the manner in which mounting strip is connected to the metallic strip ll forming the operative and deformable element of the tie strip.

From the foregoing description, the operation of my novel package and closure will bereadily understood by those skilledin the art. First of all, bag II is squared-up from the collapsed form in which it is shipped and stored by means of a suitable device or manually by gripping one of the main panels at the upper end thereof and shaking the bag. Hereafter, the desired number of unitary containers I! may be introduced into the inner space of this squared-up bag either manually or by means or a suitable filling device.

:The next step consists in collapsing the upper times so that a reinforcing fold 2l is obtained which is resting substantially in superposed position upon tie strip it. This fold may be retained in its folded and closed position by folding the two extremities 22 of tie strip is above fold 2|, as this is indicated in Fig. 3 which illustrates one end of the tie strip already folded while the other still extends in a substantially horizontal direction. In this position, the tie stripis capable of permanently holding fold 2i and thereby bag I I in its closed position. When it is desired to withdraw one or several of the unit containers from the bag, the ends of the tie strip may be folded back into their horizontal position to permit vided in some other portion of the bag, such as in the end walls in proximity to the bottom wall, with equal or similar results.

It will be noted that the package and the closure device of the invention provide various important advantages. Thus, first of all, the package of the invention makes it possible to merchandise and to sell a plurality of unit containers of an individually packed and sealed character as a single merchandising unit. Thus,

for example, four unit containers, each containing a quarter-pound of vacuum-packed cofi'ee,

' may be sold in a single one-pound coifee pack- It is also to be observed that the package of wrapping machinery but may be advantageously carried out on a relatively small scale, the manual or automatic filling of the packages with unit containers being greatly facilitated by the provision of the air channels or vents in the package. 01 course, if desired. the bag in itself may be made fluid-tight and may be hermetically sealed for example, by means of providing thereon an inner layer or coating of a suitable fluidtight thermoplastic material or by integrally forming a bag of such material. Examples of such thermoplastic materials are chlorinated rubber products including Pliofilm, vinylresins and the like. Obviously, if it is desired to hermetically seal and possibly to vacuum the bag, the air holes or vents are omitted.

Furthermore, the closure device of the invention has the advantage of extreme simplicity of structure and operation. Due to the fact that the tie strip is mounted at a substantial distance from the top opening of the package, the sealed transverse strip at the top opening of the bag may be removed by cutting or tearing of! :the

age. Thus, mounting strip. is masked or covered by fold 2| and may be constituted of plain, un-

printed paper wtihout interfering with the attractive appearance of the finished package. Of

' course, this permits dispensing with one of the printing operations heretofore necessary in manufacturing a saleable and attractive package.

To further facilitate the appreciation of the present invention, in Figs. 5 and 6 is shown a type of prior and conventional tie strip which is at present employed on a large scale in packaging various commodities. seen that the tie strip is mounted above the top end of a bag 3| by means of a suitable downwardlydirected mounting strip 32 which is adhesively secured to the bag. In the closed position of the bag depicted in'Fig. 6, the mouth walls of the bag are collapsed and the resulting collapsed portions are folded to a told 33. The bag is retained in this folded and closed position by folding the outer extremities 34 of tie strip ll! downwardly and tucking theminto the space resulting between the top fold of the bag and the top surface of the merchandise confined in the package. Of course, thisprocedure is feasible in packaging slightly compressible-come modities, such as loose, granular cofiee, but can not be carried out when relatively hard, form-.

It will be readily- 3. A packaging medium for holding a plurality of units of merchandise which comprises a bag adapted to be squared-up from collapsed form and to hold a plurality of such units of a generally rectangular shape in superposed snugly fitting position, and a plurality of holes inthe bottom wall of said bag to permit the escape of air therefromand .to facilitate the introduction of snugly.

fitting units thereinto.

4. A package for holding a plurality of normally non-compressible individually packaged units of merchandise which comprises -a bag of the automatically opening bottom typev adapted to be squared up from collapsed form and to hold a plurality of such units of rectangular shape in superposed snugly fitting position, a plurality of holes in the bottom wall of said bag to ermit the escape .of air therefrom and thereby-to facilitate the introduction of snugly fitting units thereinto, and means for holding the mouth portions of. said bag in the closed position.

5. A package for holding a relatively. large merchandising unit of a commodity comprising merchandising unit, a plurality of holes in the retaining and rectangular individual containers I V are to be packaged.

Moreover, as it will be likewise observed "in Fig..6, in the completed form of the package, the

lbottom wall of said bag, and means including a transverse tie strip in the upper terminal region of said bag but at a substantial distance from the top end thereof to hold the mouth of the begin theclosed position. 7.

. 6. A package for holding a relatively large 7 merchandising unit ofa commoditycomprlsingg; I

incombinationafbag of the automatically 09. ms bottom type s r upff'mmmllfified mm to a sub's'tiintialiy rectangularwcross s eltion r m-n plurality'of rectangular-shaped individuflly vic 'uum-paeked normally non-compressible containers within said bag in superposedpOsitionWnd' closely conforming to the inner walls thereof. 5

' each of said containers, holding a submultiple of ment thereof, variations and modifications may be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the present invention. I consider all of these variations .and

modifications as within the true spirit and scope of the present inventioxnas disclosed in the foregoing description and defined by the appended claims I semi r 1. A package for holding units of merchandise substantially conforming to the cross section escape of air from said has during theintroduc 10 tion Of said units.

said largemerchandising unit, altransyerse seal bonding the mouth walls of said bag together? section, a plurality of rectangular-shaped individualiy vacuum-packed normally non-compres sible containers within said bag in superposed position and closely conforming to the inner walls thereof, each of said containers holding a submultiple of said large merchandising unit, a transverse heat sealed, seam hermetically sealing the mouth opening of said bag, and a transverse tie strip remote from the top extremity of said bag to hold the upper terminal portions of said bag in a folded and flat position.

HARRY r'. warms. 

